Immortal's Ascending Path - 40
Episode-40: The Inheritor from the Mountain Pass
"Absolutely do not go outside alone."
Roberta warned, looking past the open door and window of the house. A horde of monsters called Kanipus was approaching. The wolf-like monsters numbered at least thirty at a glance. Considering the area outside the field of vision, it would reach forty.
It was natural that the village was ravaged. Even she had rarely seen such a large horde of Kanipus. Where, how, did such a group come to be? Questions arose, but there was no time to dwell on them.
"Come if you dare. You bug-like bastards."
The dwarf Toruhel slammed the butt of his axe onto the floor with a thud.
The monsters paused for a moment but soon quickened their pace. There was no standoff. One monster reached the doorstep and leaped in with fierce momentum, and other monsters also crossed the window.
The first was Roberta. She was among the five people and was at the forefront, so the first monster to cross the threshold aimed for her and kicked off the floor.
She immediately tilted her body to the side. The monster's claws scratched the air by a hair's breadth, and only then did the sound of tearing wind come late. If her reaction had been slower, her head would have been torn off.
The mana-forged blade bisected the monster's side.
Splash, flesh was cut. She had dodged the claws and swung her sword. She confirmed the monster that had fallen to the floor with a cold gaze and then faced the following monsters.
"Good skills!"
Toruhel shouted, raising his double-edged axe high.
"Do human Priests also learn to hunt!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the axe blade struck down on the head of the monster in front of the dwarf. His arm circumference, comparable to her thigh, was not just for show. He split the monster, which was larger than his own size, like firewood.
Roberta watched the others while cutting down the monsters one by one. Unlike the other two, Fritz was struggling with even one Kanipus. It couldn't be helped. He lacked experience.
Instead, the boy suppressed his impatience and built up his counterattacks. He narrowly avoided attacks and inflicted small wounds each time. The monster was covered in large and small wounds, from its neck to its belly to its legs.
The enraged monster howled. It was a tone that urged him to fight bravely. However, the boy's attitude remained unchanged. Soon, the exhausted monster collapsed.
'He has talent. Experience will be solved by time.'
She shifted her gaze to the terrified residents. The only surviving man in this village leaned against the wall and cowered. Not even equipped with weapons, he could only hope that the monsters would not target him.
"······."
Ulrich stood next to him.
He wore a sword at his waist but did not draw it. He quietly watched the three people in front fighting. As if waiting for something.
"Above!"
Toruhel shouted.
The monsters' movements changed.
Tap tap tap tap, there was a sound of climbing the wall.
"They're coming from above too. Be careful!"
The monsters outside were climbing the wall and infiltrating the upper floor.
Ulrich shifted his gaze to the stairs. A Kanipus appeared on the stairs. Because the width was narrow, only one monster showed itself at first. And as soon as it met his eyes, it lunged.
It must have laughed inwardly. Because the opponent was a human with nothing in his hands. He was wearing a sword, but if it bit off his head with its jaws before he could draw it, how could he resist?
However, the monster stopped in mid-air.
Ulrich reached out his left hand and grabbed its neck. Even though the monster was taller than him when it stood on its hind legs, he looked like someone holding a piece of paper. The hand that dug into its neck crushed the bones.
Then, he threw it at the Kanipus that was rushing in after it. The monster that collided with the corpse of its own kind rolled down the stairs, and Ulrich struck down with his right fist.
With a thud, the Kanipus's head caved in.
"Huh···."
Toruhel clicked his tongue.
Roberta also swallowed a hollow laugh inside. She was proud of her martial prowess, but Ulrich's appearance left her speechless. To snatch a monster that weighed five or six times his own weight, break it, and throw it? Also, to smash a skull with his bare hands?
Soon, the fight temporarily subsided. There were too many corpses piled up inside the house, and there was no room. The monsters could not enter inside.
"Now we have to catch them outside."
"Be careful. It's dangerous to create distance because the space is open."
"Don't worry. I know that much."
The group left the house. Outside, the night was deep, and the darkness was thick, and the bright yellow eyes of the monsters shone, reflecting the moonlight. Now, the monsters, only about half of which remained, hesitated and stepped back.
'It's about time to run away.'
Since monsters had no intelligence, they would run away when their momentum was broken. However, these monsters were different. They only stepped back a few steps to create distance, but they showed no signs of running away.
'Is someone controlling the monsters?'
Roberta suddenly shifted her gaze.
She felt a gaze. Someone was far away. It was not clearly visible because it was in the shadows of the night, but the shape was human.
Why would a person be in a place where monsters had killed all life?
Her intuition whispered that he was the one who summoned the monsters.
"···Armin-nim."
She called Ulrich in a whisper.
He was also looking at the same place, so there was no need for further words. The two ran quickly. As Ulrich took the lead, Roberta chased after him.
The figure also noticed them coming and turned its back. Roberta shouted, "That's the person!" towards the figure running out of the village.
Then, the remaining monsters rushed at the two of them all at once.
"Where do you think you're going!" Toruhel shouted and threw his axe. Fritz also stabbed the back of the monster chasing the two, drawing its attention. Even so, four remained.
Roberta ran, alternating between looking at the figure and the monsters, then twisted her body and swung her sword. The forelimbs of the Kanipus right behind her rolled on the floor. Now, three out of the four were drawn to her.
"Be careful!"
Before her shout, Ulrich used his hands. He grabbed and tore apart the mouth of the monster that had leaped with its jaws open with both hands. Then, he ran after the figure again.
#
She fled into the forest.
It was a forest near the village. Even though it was a deep night, and the moon could not exert its power, the dense thickets covered even that. She ran through the darkness where she could not see an inch ahead.
Ulrich chased after her. She and he were the only people passing through the forest, so only the sound of each other's running could be heard. And at some point, he stopped.
"Giving up too soon."
In the deep darkness, Ulrich saw her. There was nothing that could be distinguished other than the fact that the shape was female. She caught her breath, which she had been breathing heavily, and looked back at him.
"Aren't you going to go to where your group is?"
Instead of answering, she drew up mana. Mana gathered at her fingertips, and for a moment, a strong wind rose in the forest but then stopped abruptly. The mana she held was scattered helplessly.
She looked down at her hands in embarrassment and trembled.
"You, it was you."
He read the emotion contained in her voice. It wasn't fear. Her voice trembled greatly and was close to sobbing, but it wasn't a fearful tone. Joy, that was the emotion embedded in her voice.
"Do you know me."
"I heard about you. And I wanted to meet you."
"Now you've fulfilled your wish. Are you satisfied?"
Yes, very, she replied.
"What does it feel like to not age or die?"
Ulrich took a step forward, and she took a step back.
"It's nothing. There's nothing you expect."
"Do you know what we expect?"
"It's obvious."
A naive laughter spread through the forest.
"You're the only one left for us."
"You're mistaken. I'm not the kind of being you think I am. I just unwillingly—"
"Arturus."
He stopped walking.
"You're the only one who thinks that way."
Then she put her hand into her bosom. Ulrich realized what she was about to do and ran, but it was too late. There was a sound of flesh piercing, and following that, a slender body collapsed.
When he picked up the fallen her, she had already stopped breathing. After stabbing and rummaging through her own heart. He reached out to touch the wound but stopped.
Ulrich looked down at her with calm eyes. The eyes that were losing their vitality were looking up at the sky, and coincidentally, he was there, so their eyes met.
She had a smile on her lips.
"······."
He let out a short breath and closed her eyes.
#
Roberta waited for Ulrich at the entrance of the forest. She tried to chase after him after dealing with the monsters, but she didn't know where in the forest he had gone, so she was just pacing around.
After a while, he came out of the forest. Since he was holding the woman they considered the culprit and chased, Roberta smiled and asked.
"Ah, did you catch her?"
Ulrich shook his head.
What he was holding was a lifeless body. The blood-red blood continued to flow from the wound in her chest, soaking his clothes and dripping onto the ground.
When the corpse was laid down, the moonlight illuminated her appearance.
"···Fairy?"
Roberta blinked at the pointed ears.
"A Gallua."
Gallua.
It was a word that referred to a hybrid of humans and fairies.
They were beautiful in appearance and had long lifespans thanks to inheriting the blood of fairies. Roberta often saw them when she was a regular Priest at the Nua Grand Temple.
In her memory, Gallua had short, round ears. They were no different from those of humans. On the other hand, the elves she saw had long and pointed ears. That was why the dwarf Toruhel called an unknown human a short-eared person when referring to them.
"Isn't the ear too sharp to be called a hybrid?"
"Not all Gallua are born with human ears. You know that too. Among the hybrids, there are people who are born with a strong inheritance of one side's blood."
Does this person mean that? She made an "hmm" sound and examined the corpse. Now that she heard that, she felt that her ears were a little short.
"If she's a Gallua, I don't understand even more."
As far as she knew, there was no one among the Gallua who was not precious. It was uncommon for ordinary humans to come into contact with other races, and fairies were proud and did not mix their blood with other races well.
One had to be a figure who had many opportunities to come into contact with other races and was of a high enough level for the fairies to acknowledge in order to have a Gallua as a child.
"They're a lineage that is said to be the aristocracy among the aristocracy. What problem did she have that she summoned monsters and hunted humans."
Ulrich knelt on one knee and examined the corpse.
"You could say it's the karma of the Pantheon."
"Yes?"
Ulrich knelt and grabbed the corpse's right hand.
She was wearing a silver ring on her right index finger. The upper part was a flat circle like a family seal ring, and a crest was engraved on it.
Roberta leaned over to check the crest and frowned. It was a familiar shape. There was no way she wouldn't know it. Because she was human.
It was a crest in the shape of a hand holding a torch. It was one of the symbols of Hestio.